Blood and Honor
by Intrepid Penguin
Summary: Remus Damon was abandoned at birth. Now he is searching for answers. But then, he gets caught up in the events of Skyrim. A bloody civil war erupts, and dragons rampage across the land. Will he ever discover who he is?
1. Following the Bloody Brick Road

**Blood and Honor**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bethesda or The Elder Scrolls series at all. This is just a fanfic ^.^ **

A sort of peace fell over Remus Damon as he watched the moons, Masser and Secunda, watch over Nirn. He had been traveling for days, from Solitude to the southern border of Skyrim, leading to Cyrodill. He had decided to make the journey after his adoptive mother, Ceria Elion had passed away. All his life, Remus always hungered to know who his real family was, and where he came from.

So, before she died, Ceria told Remus of how she found him in the forest, as a baby sleeping among a pack of feral wolves. She called on the guards to chase the wolves off, and she took him into her house, to raise him as her own.

On her deathbed, she told him that, to find the answers, he must head for the southern border. It was there, she said, that his destiny would begin.

Remus didn't know what she meant, but vowed to make the journey.

A single mother working at a fruit stand in the city center, they were always poor, scraping by on what they could, when they could. Remus could still remember all the nights he spent going to bed hungry. He remembered how Ceria would always give him her food when there wasn't much, just so he would be content.

He loved her. She was the mother that he never had, but was determined to discover who he was, and where he came from. For her. So, after her burial, he packed his things and left, at the age of 19.

Remus traveled on foot, trekking through the dark woods near Falkreath in silence. His pack was slung over his back, and a measly iron sword he had bought in the market was strapped to his waist. He had some skill with a blade, since he always watched and mimicked the guards who practiced by their barracks as a youth. A gold medallion with an inlaid depiction of the sun and moon hung at his neck. It belonged to Ceria, and Remus wanted to keep a piece of her with him.

The icy wind raged against Remus's body, but he kept going, grinning to himself. "I'm from Solitude," he thought. "It's going to take more than this little breeze to freeze me."

As he neared a fork in the road, he noticed a small spring of water to his immediate right. "Guess I should refill my water skin before I move on. There's no knowing how long it'll be before I find another water source this far south."

He looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, and cautiously turned his back to kneel by the spring. As he filled his water skin, he examined his reflection. The young Imperial had pale skin that shone in the moonlight, contradictory to his neck length coal black hair. His sea green eyes glittered sadly at him. His face looked gaunt from the long journey, and his hair was a shaggy mess. His clothes were stained and dirty, and his leather boots were caked with mud. He sighed, and stood up. Then, he froze as he heard yelling close by.

Remus gripped his sword, but stayed still, lightening closely. The yelling wasn't far from him, and he could hear the clashing of swords accompanying it. "A battle," he thought. It sounded like it was just up the hill past the spring. Remus looked to the fork. The left road lead to the border, and he knew he should continue on his way, to widen the gap between him and the violence breaking out…but his curiosity won out. "Just a peek," he promised himself. "Then I'll run faster than old M'aiq."

Remus quickly dashed up the hill, making sure to stay low to keep from being spotted. Once he reached the top, he got down on his stomach and marveled at the sight in front of him. Two large groups of men and women were locked in a vicious fight. On one side, Remus quickly recognized the uniforms of the Imperial Legion. Solitude was always the home of The Empires main forces. Remus would always watch in awe as the soldiers routinely marched past his home every week. The unified sound of stomping boots lulled him.

On the other side of the battle, there was a small army of people Remus couldn't recognize. They wore fur armor with blue fabrics, and most donned scaled helmets. It wasn't until Remus saw the bear banner over them did he finally recognize them. "Stormcloaks," he thought.

Lately, Skyrim was buzzing with the news of a rebellion trying to push the Empire out of Skyrim, led by the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak. Living in Solitude, Remus had never gotten a chance to see a Stormcloak in person, but the Imperial soldiers would always tell stories of the savage rebels who wanted to destroy Skyrim's only hope of stability and peace.

In front of him, Remus watched a female Empire soldier, who Remus judged to be a nord, with a simple steel sword. She was facing off against a Stormcloak wielding a hulking two handed war axe. By her full, steel Imperial armor and helm, he could tell she was a high ranking officer. The Stormcloak swung his axe sideways at her, yelling a vicious battle cry. Remus was sure she would be cleaved in half, but at the last second, she jumped back to avoid the attack, and lunged at the Stormcloak, her sword extended out. Before the man could maneuver out of the way, the woman's sword ate its way through the Stormcloaks armor and flew right through his body until the end was sticking out of his back. The man gave a gurgle like cry, and then collapsed. The woman pulled the sword free from the corpse and then thrust the bloody weapon in the air, screaming a victorious war cry.

"Okay, time to go," Remus finally told himself. But as he started to move backwards, his feet bumped into something hard behind him. He turned back slowly to see a grinning Stormcloak standing over him, with an unsheathed sword in his hand.

"Well now, what do we have here?" the Stormcloak said. "An Imperial scout? Watching over our little scrap to report back to those damn elves? I think so. I guess I'll have to send those tyrant bastards a message of my own." He raised his sword to stike Remus.

"Move," a voice said in Remus's head. He gladly obeyed and rolled out of way, just as the sword plunged itself into the earth where he had just been. Remus kept rolling fast until he had enough room, and then scrambled to his feet.

"Slippery son of a bitch, aren't ya?" The Stormcloak laughed, pulling his sword out of the ground. Remus then remembered that he had his own sword, and drew it out. "Oh, got a little fight left in you eh? Well then, come on!" The man charged with bloodlust in his eyes.

"It's over," Remus thought. He closed his eyes and stuck his sword out, preparing for his end. The only thing that saved his life then and there was a rock.

The Stormcloak charged so quickly and confidently, that he didn't see the large rock right in front of him. He tripped, and gave a startled yell as he fell onto Remus's extended sword. The weight forced Remus to the ground, knocking the breath out of him, with the Stormcloak crushing him on top, and his sword poking out of the man's back. Like the Imperial woman had done.

"Oh gods," Remus gasped. With a grunt, he pushed the body off of him, and then quickly scrambled to his feet. He stared down at the man, whose wide, surprised eyes stared unblinking at the moons above. His mouth was slightly open, with blood trickling out of it. A pool of blood started to form around the body, with the sword still in his chest.

Remus just stared uncomprehendingly at the body. "I just," he muttered. "I just killed…oh gods."

The battle still raged in front of Remus, but he couldn't move. He felt like he was going to throw up. He would have stayed there all night, but a noise to his left jarred him out of his stasis. Remus only had a second to see the same Imperial soldier from before bashing the pommel of her sword into his head. Remus fell, and his world went black.

**Okay that's chapter 1 done. I apologize that Its not all that good. I'm awful with starting out a story. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is something I can take so bring it on!**


	2. The Chopping Block

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: Okay, so, same message as before. I really don't own Bethesda or the Elder Scrolls series. I wish I did, but oh well. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. There's more to come!**

When Remus came to, he felt like he was moving. His vision was still blurry, but he was aware that others were around him. He was sitting, and the landscape beyond was moving by slowly. "Am…am I in a carriage?" he thought to himself. He tried to move, but he realized his hands were tied together. Remus groaned in pain. His body ached, and he had the worst headache imaginable. His mind flashed to the memory of the morning after his 18th birthday, when his few friends decided to take him out to the tavern for a night of "fun and indulgence." Remus remembered puking his lungs out the next morning, feeling like crap. This felt like that, except doubled. He could feel dried blood caking the left side of his head, and the point where his head had been hit.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake," said a voice in front of him. His vision cleared enough to see a blonde nord man sitting in front of him, with his hands tied together like Remus's. Remus instantly noticed that the man was wearing a Stormcloak uniform. Fear shot through him, but was quickly dispelled as he remembered that nord was also tied up. Then he noticed that his pack and sword were gone. A cold jolt shot through his body as a thought occurred to him. Looking down frantically, Remus sight in relief as he saw that his medallion was still on his neck.

"You were trying to cross the border right?" the nord continued. "Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us. And those thieves over there." The nord nodded his head to the right, and for the first time, Remus saw that they weren't alone. His vision cleared completely, and he could see two more nord men in the carriage, along with a very angry looking dark elf woman. Behind their carriage was another carriage, being driven by an Imperial soldier. Remus looked and saw that their carriage was being driven by a similar soldier.

Remus looked back to where the original nord nodded to. He was nodding to the dark elf and one of the nods, who was wearing a simple cloth tunic and pants instead of the Stormcloak uniform. The dark elf woman was wearing black leather armor, with long auburn hair tied into a ball. Her ebony skin shined in the sunlight, and her glittering red eyes angrily stared daggers into the carriage floor. The nord man next to her looked scared. When he heard the blonde nord star talking, he twisted his head to look at the nord with a look of hatred.

"Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If it hadn't been for you, I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now."

Then, he looked at Remus. "You there. You, me, and this Dumner. We shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

Remus said something intelligent like, "Uhhh." His mind was still fuzzed.

The Stormcloak looked calmly at the thief and said, "Were all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."

"Shut up back there!" The Imperial driver yelled.

The thief ignored the driver. He looking to the silent nord in front of him and asked, "Hey, what's wrong with him?"

Remus looked over to see that the reason the other nord had been quiet, was because he was gagged by a strip of cloth. He also had a Stormcloak uniform of, but it looked different than the blonde nord'd uniform. Remus guessed he must have been a higher rank.

"Watch your tongue!" the blonde nord snapped. "You're talking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!"

Surprised, Remus and the thief stared at the gagged man as if he were on fire. "Ulfric Stormcloak," the thief began. "But, you're the leader of the rebellion. If they've captured you then…oh gods, where are they taking us?"

"I don't know where we're going," the nord replied. "But Sovrengarde awaits."

"No!" the thief screamed. Fear was clear in his voice, and his eyes looked like those of a cornered animal before they died. "This can't be happening! This isn't happening!"

Remus didn't say anything. He digested this news in quiet shock. "If they have Ulfric Stormcloak, they'll want to execute him," Remus thought. "That means the rest of us will….shit." Then he looked up and noticed that the blood elf woman's hands were covered in blood. It didn't seem fresh, but it wasn't dried like Remus's. "Your bleeding," he said the the Dunmer.

It was like she knew he was talking to him, because she lifted her head and regarded him for a moment. Her eyes didn't change a lot. They still looked angry, but not as much. "It's not mine," she said at last. Then, she lowered her head, and continued to stare at the floor. He expected her voice to be as rough and her demeanor, but it actually sounded soothing, and frightened. She could hide her emotions with exterior, but her voice betrayed her real feelings. Remus had a feeling she was also scared, though not nearly as much as Remus and the horse thief. Ceria had taught Remus the useful art of reading a person through actions and sounds. He couldn't do it nearly as good as her, but he knew enough to read this dark elf.

Despite her attitude and angry expression, Remus felt the need to speak to her. Unfortunately, he didn't know quite what to say. He wasn't much of a talker, and he was never successful in starting a conversation with a female, other than his mother. He imagined himself asking her, "Hey, so how do you think they'll kill us? Drowning? Hanging?" but he mentally smacked himself. "By the Nine, Brain! What are you thinking! Okay, I can do this." Then, he thought of something.

"What's your name?"

She looked up again, but didn't answer. She just stared at him, and he found that he couldn't look away from her piercing gaze. She looked like she was calculating the best way to take Remus down in a fight.

"General Tullius sir!" came a voice from the head of the carriage caravan. "The headsman is waiting!"

"Good, let's get this over with."

"This is Helgen, "he heard the blonde nord say.

A shadow passed over them, and Remus realized that they were entering a village. Imperial soldiers lined the ramparts, and towers hung high above them. All around, wooden houses stood side by side to one another, with civilians pouring out to watch the criminals. Remus thought the nord was talking, but he wasn't listening.

Still, Remus and the dark elf woman stared, until she broke the silence. "Nyxeris," she said. She then looked over her shoulder. "I'm Remus," he replied, but it didn't look like she was paying attention anymore.

Remus followed her gaze, and saw a large stone building in the center of the courtyard. Empire banners hung everywhere. But what caught his eye, but the execution block placed in front of the building. Next to it was a large man with a black mask covering his face, wielding and vicious looking axe, still covered in blood.

Their carriage suddenly came to a stop.

"End of the line," the nord said. "Let's go, shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." They all then got up from their seats and jumped out the back of the carriage.

Remus purposefully stood next to Nyxeris. She saw him next to her, rolled her eyes, and kept looking forward. She was surprisingly short. Remus thought she was so intimidating that she would be at least his height, around 6''1, but in reality, she only barely reached his shoulders. Her body was trim and muscled. She clearly lived a life that required a lot of exercise.

"Step towards the block when we call your name!" yelled a familiar voice. Remus turned straight ahead and saw the nord Empire soldier from the battle still in her armor. He remembered that she was the one who knocked him out, and anger broiled in him. Next to her, a young nord man held a scroll in front of him. "Empire loves their damn lists," the blonde Stormcloak said next to Remus.

"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm," the young nord called. Ulfric, still gagged stepped forward, and walked to a crowd of prisoners gathered around the block. "It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric," the blonde Stormcloak said.

"Ralof of Riverwood," he called next. The Stormcloak stepped forward and went to the block.

"Lokir of Rorikstead," was the next name called. The horse thief stepped forward. "No! I'm not a rebel, you can't do this!" He then took off running down the stone road, heading back towards the entrance.

"Stop!" the woman yelled.

"You won't kill me!" the thief screamed back while fleeing frantically.

"Archers!" the woman yelled.

Suddenly, two archers Remus hadn't noticed knocked arrows and shot at the thief. He went down quickly, his body releasing blood all over the stone road.

"Anybody else feel like running?"

The young nord with the scrolls looked over at Remus and Nyxeris, then back down at his list. His brow furrowed and he suddenly looked confused. He looked up back at them again. "You two, step forward."

Nyxeris moved forward. Remus forced himself a second later. Once they both stood in front of the soldiers, the nor man asked, "Who are you"?

Lifting her chin high, Nyxeris told them her name. Remus wondered why she told them so quickly but it took a staring trial to get her to tell HIM.

Then the nord looked expectantly at Remus.

"Oh. My name is Remus Damon."

The man sighed. "Captain, what do we do? Their names aren't on the list."

The captain looked over Nyxeris quickly then examined Remus. He could tell she remembered him. The captain simply looked at him for a moment. "What is it with these women and staring," he thought to himself.

"Forget the list, they go to the block."

"As you wish captain," the nord man quickly replied. Then he looked at Remus and Nyxeris. "To the block prisoners. Nice and easy."

The two of them stood near the back of the group, not saying anything. The first prisoner to go, was one a Stormcloak Remus hadn't seen before. The headsman swung his axe and chopped off the nords heads. The stump sprayed blood in all direction before the captain stepped in and kicked the body to the ground.

Remus was shaking. The realization had finally hit him. He was going to die here. A headless body dumped in an unmarked grave.

Nyxeris must have seen him shaking, because Remus then felt an elbow nudge him. "It'll be over quick," she said encouragingly. Remus looked at her surprised, but she was still looking straight ahead. He breathed out. "Yeah," he said. "At least we'll most likely be called last," he said.

"Next, the Imperial!"

"Or not," Nyxeris muttered.

Remus couldn't move. "This is it," he thought.

"I said, next prisoner!" the captain yelled again.

Remus forced himself to walk forward, step by step. Once he was close enough, the captain grabbed his shoulder, and forced him to his knees in front of the block. It was covered in blood and the previous prisoners head still laid in the basket in front of the block. The captains gloved hand pressed Remus's head down on the block, and the headsman readied his axe.

Remus looked down and saw the medallion glinting in the sunlight.

"I'm sorry mother," Remus thought, thinking of Ceria. "I failed. At…at least I'll be with you soon." Remus closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

Then, suddenly, a roar shot out through the mountains. A gust of wind hit Remus in the face.

"What in Oblivion is that!" he heard one of the Imperials call out.

From behind him, Remus heard the captain yell, "Sentries, what do you see?"

"It's in the clouds," someone replied.

"Dragon!" another yelled.

Remus opened his eyes, and wished he hadn't. On top of the huge stone building behind the block, was a black monster with thorns sticking out of its body, enormous wings, and large blood red eyes. It roared, and Remus felt the ground shake. The sky turned black as storm clouds swirled over the monster. Lightning and fire then began to fall from the sky, striking the towers and setting houses on fire. Everyone, Stormcloaks, civilians, and Imperial soldiers alike, began to run and scream in terror. It was chaos. A piece of a tower broke apart, and a brick crashed into the headsman's skull with a sickening splat. The headsman collapsed.

"Guards, get the townspeople to safety!" a voice rang out.

Suddenly, a pair of bonded hands roughly grabbed Remus and hauled him to his feet. Remus whirled to see Nyxeris, smiling broadly. "Come on Imperial! We're leaving!" She then turned and took off towards and open doorway in one of the towers. Remus paused for a moment, then ran to follow her.

**Okay so, that was chapter 2. Please read and review, and don't be afraid to criticize if you disliked it. I can take it! Another chapter will be put out soon, thanks for reading!**


	3. Through Fire and Darkness

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own The Elder Scrolls Series, or Bethesda. I did make a few of the characters up, but in a way, their still Bethesda property so…whatever.**

Remus wished his escape story would have been more daring and impressive, but it was quite the opposite.

As soon as the "dragon" began to attack Helgen, Remus quickly tried to scramble after Nyxeris, stumbling multiple times from debris flying over his head and ground shaking impacts. He saw Nyxeris dived into the doorway to the tower, and he followed her after a few moments. Once inside, he wanted to run right back out. There were five, unbound Stormcloaks staring at him in the doorway. They didn't try to kill him, but then again, he didn't stay long. Nyxeris didn't even stop, and managed to start climbing the stairs to the top of the tower. Remus followed. Before he made it to the stairs, he looked back and noticed the blonde nord from before and…Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak ungagged and unbound. He turned and kept running.

"Why does everything want to kill me?" Remus said to himself. He had Stormcloaks try to kill him; Empire soldiers try to kill him, and even a dragon try to kill him. "Everyone except her," he thought as he chased after Nyxeris. Even with her hands bound, she was far from helpless. She bounded up the stairs, two at a time, moving as quickly as a deer in the wild. She didn't once look back to make sure he was with her, but he guessed she could hear his hard breathing from behind her. Finally, they made it to the second level, and saw a Stormcloak crouched down by the next set of stairs.

He saw them coming and stood up. "Hey you tw-"he was cut off as the wall next to him imploded at him. The Stormcloak disappeared under a mound of rubble. Nyxeris and Remus stopped short as the dragon stuck its head inside the tower. Opening its massive jaws, it let forth an enormous stream of fire in the tower. The pair ducked down as fire shot over them. Suddenly, it stopped as the dragon took off into the sky. After a few seconds, Nyxeris stood and examined their escape route. The debris from the wall blocked the next set of stairs, and patches of fire still burned in the rocks.

She turned her head towards the opening and walked over to it, looking downward. She bent her knees, and before Remus could stop her, leapt from the tower.

"No!" Remus yelled. He rushed to opening and looked down.

About twenty feet below him, Nyxeris stood in the top floor what remained of a wooden home. A large part of the straw roof and burned off, and the rest of the structure was catching fire fast.

Nyxeris began to run again, but stopped after a step, tuned and looked up at Remus. "Come on!" She yelled to him.

"Are you mad?" he yelled back.

"You'll be fine Imperial! Now get down here before I leave your sorry arse behind!"

Remus breathed hard. "Damn it," he muttered.

He then closed his eyes, and jumped. Once he felt impact, he rolled for all he was worth, and struggled to his feet. Smoke caught in his eyes and made him gag slightly. He looked up to see Nyxeris jumping down another hole at the far end of the room to a lower level.

"W-wait for me!" he yelled to her. He didn't even pause at this next hole, since it was a much shorter jump. Once he ran from the burning home he witnessed quite a sight. Dozens of Empire archers shot at the massive dragon from the ground and ramparts. The dragon was too fast though, and nothing managed to hit it. Remus barely saw it fly overhead, moving faster than anything he had ever seen before. Its massive body and wings blotted out the sun.

Fear once again shot through Remus, who then took off down the path Nyxeris charged through.

He caught sight of the dark elf stopped next to the Empire nord who had read their names off that damn list. A sword was in his hand, and he was yelling something at her. Nyxeris turned her head to Remus, and motioned for him to come. Remus obeyed, but steered clear of the armed nord, preferring to stand behind Nyxeris.

"Your still alive too prisoner?" the nord said to Remus, who nodded in response.

"Good, follow me if you want to keep it that way." The nord then turned to a man and boy behind him that Remus hadn't seen. "Stay out of sight," he told them. "I need to join general Tullius in the defense!" then took off running down a charred path.

"Gods speed, Hadvar," the man yelled back to him. Nyxeris turned to Remus.

"Come on, we'll follow him for a bit. Just until we get out of this chaos."

Remus thought it was a better plan than wandering around by themselves, so he nodded. They ran after Hadvar. Remus saw things that would haunt him forever. On the streets, people screamed, on fire and burning alive. Soldiers continued to shoot at the dragon, who nimbly dodged everything. Mages shot fire bolts at it, as other soldiers tried to clear ruble away from the gates. Bodies lay crumbled on the floors. Some badly burnt, others crushed from rubble. Most were the citizens that were out watching the executions. Building continued to crumble around them, as fire spread faster than they could run. Remus even saw the dragon sweep across the ramparts, grasp an Empire soldier in its black talons, and drop him from the sky. Remus could hear the soldier scream until he hit the ground.

After what seemed a nightmarish eternity, Remus caught sight of the barracks. A single Stormcloak, the blonde nord from before, ran out in front of their path. Hadvar stopped and began yelling at the nord. Nyxeris and Remus didn't even stop. They charged past the two of them and plowed into the barracks. A moment later, Hadvar came in and slammed the door shut.

"Ah good, we should be safe for now, but we should keep moving." He sheathed his sword and looked at the two of them. "Come here and let me see if I can get those bindings off. Otherwise you'll be helpless is we encounter any more problems." He cut Nyxeris's bindings off first, and then came to Remus's.

"Was that really a dragon?" He asked, as he cut the bindings. "The bringers of the end times?"

"Can't be," Remus replied, still shaken. "Dragons have been gone for centuries."

"Not anymore it seems." Nyxeris said. She turned to Hadvar. "We have to keep moving."

He nodded. "There should be some armor in these chests. Maybe a couple swords too."

Remus checked some of the chests on the left side of the room, while Nyxeris checked the right. "Found a helm," he said.

"I have a set of armor, and two swords." Nyxeris stood, brandishing a set of leather armor. A pair or iron swords sat of the wooden table beside her.

Remus eyed the armor and lifted his eyebrow. "Only one set?"

A roar ringed outside, sounding a lot closer than before.

Nyxeris suddenly through the armor at Remus, who caught it, surprised. "Luckily, the Empire didn't take my armor, so you take this set. Move quickly though."

Remus armored himself quickly, while Nyxeris checked her own to make sure nothing was out of place. Once they were done, she tossed one of the swords at him. He caught it easily. A memory of stabbing the Stormcloak the night before assaulted his mind, and he nearly dropped the new weapon.

"Were ready," Nyxeris called out to Hadvar. The nord ran forward and led them through a door on the opposite end of the room.

As they walked, Remus began to calm himself, and get a grip on the situation. Soon, they saw a room in the distance, lit by a few candles. As they came closer, they began to hear voices from inside. Hadvar motioned for them to stop.

"Sounds like Stormcloaks," he said. "Let's see if we can reason with them."

"Yeah, you go in first. Tell us how that idea goes," Remus muttered. Nyxeris snickered.

Hadvar glared at the Imperial for a moment, then turned and walked toward the room slowly. Nyxeris and Remus stayed behind and watched, but Hadvar soon slipped out of sight, behind a corner. They could hear talking, which soon got louder. Then they heard the sound of steel hitting steel.

Nyxeris tensed. "Let's go!" she ordered, and then charged into the room. Remus followed closely, his blood pumping wildly.

Inside the room Hadvar was locked in battle with two large Stormcloaks. One wielded a two handed axe, and the other, a female, wielded a menacing looking claymore. The axe wielding Stormcloak swung at Hadvar, who was dodging as best as he could. The other Stormcloak tried to get behind Hadvar, but didn't get a chance as Nyxeris came behind her, and ran her sword into the Stormcloaks back. Outnumbered three to one, the last Stormcloak backed up against the wall, and looked at looked at all three of them individually. As his eyes came to Remus, he charged, yelling a vicious war cry.

Remus didn't know what happened next. His vision got fuzzy, and he felt disconnected. He remembered all those days watching Empire soldiers train in Solitude, memorizing the techniques they practiced for hours. His body moved on its own.

The Stormcloak slashed his axe downward, but Remus sidestepped instantly. The man hefted the axe over his head and swung, trying to cleave Remus in half from the side, but he was too quick. Remus ducked quickly and avoided the axe, then lunged forward. He jabbed at the Stormcloak, who then deflected Remus's sword with the pommel of his axe.

Remus swept right past the man then turned sharply to see the Stormcloak bringing his axe downward again. This time, Remus blocked it with his own weapon. The impact jarred his arms, and sparks flew, but he held strong. The two remained locked to each other, until Remus began to feel his strength ebbing away. In one desperate last move, Remus pushed the axe off to the left. The axe buried itself in the stone wall slightly. The Stormcloak tried to heft it free for another strike, but he was too slow. Remus lunged one more time, and stabbed the man in the gut.

Remus stared into the man's crazed eyes as he yanked his sword free. The man stood for a moment, looking confused, then collapsed.

Remus was breathing hard, on the verge of falling to his knees. "Impressive performance," he heard Nyxeris say behind him. He turned to see the dark elf helping Hadvar up, but watching Remus intently.

"It was nothing," Remus gasped out. "I could do that all day."

"Indeed," Nyxeris replied, sounding unconvinced.

Hadvar walked over to the dead female and fished a key from her armor. "Come on, we still got a long way to go," he said, gesturing towards the Iron Gate behind Remus.

After the fight, Remus felt exhausted, but didn't want to hold the others up. They passed a torture room, where a pair of soldiers had taken down a couple Stormcloaks. Remus found a shield and mace, but decided to forgo both. He was already tired, and didn't want to lug around more weight. He would need to be light on his feet to make it out of this live. He also found some lock picks in a satchel, and was tempted to pick the lock to one of the cages to loot the body inside, but thought better of it. Taking from the dead seemed awful to Remus, but Nyxeris, on the other hand, had no qualms with it. She unlocked the cage faster than Remus could blink and loaded the satchel with everything she found inside, including a few gold coins, magicka potions, and a spell tomb. Her eyes lit up once she saw that one of the Stormcloaks had a bow and quiver full of iron arrows.

"Finally!" she yelled and threw her sword to the ground, and grabbing the bow. They continued through a rather large hole in the wall further down. It seemed that they were now in a cave system, and easily found a small creek.

"Follow the water. We might find a way out," Hadvar said.

They found a room filled with Stormcloaks. Hadvar and Remus fought a pair of Stormcloaks on a narrow bridge themselves, while Nyxeris traded shots with some Stormcloaks that had their own bows. She was a fantastic shot though, and downed all of them within moments of each other. Hadvar and Remus managed to hold off their attacker long enough for Nyxeris to shoot them. Remus ducked to avoid the Stormcloaks sword, and looked up to see an arrow protruding from the man's chest. Remus turned to look at Nyxeris in awe. "That was amazing!"

She smiled slightly. "It was nothing. I could do that all day," she said, walking past him. He smiled.

They rested for a few minutes, and continued forward. Soon, Remus noticed that the walls become sticky with webs. Nyxeris noticed this too, and stopped dead in her tracks.

"These are spider webs," she said. Her voice sounded strange. Remus turned around to see a terrified look on her face.

"You scared?" he asked.

That jarred her out of her scared expression. The glared angrily at Remus. "Of course not! How could you ask such an idiotic question after all that's happened? I'm just stating an observation." She quickly brushed past Remus. Her voice still sounded strange. Remus decided to not think about it and keep going. The heat and lack of oxygen made Remus light headed, but he kept going. They were almost free, he could feel it.

Suddenly, they came into a large chamber completely covered in webbing. Corpses of small animals and humanoid shapes hung from the ceiling, covered completely in webs.

"This isn't good," Hadvar said cautiously. Then, shaped began to move all along the floor and walls around them. Once they came into the sunlight, Remus recognized them as spiders. Very, very large spiders. Each was the size of a small dog, except for one that was easily man sized. Remus raised his sword in preparation for the attack, but was caught off guard by screaming. He looked to see that Nyxeris had noticed the spiders and was quickly fleeing for her life, out the tunnel on the other side of the chamber. At that speed, she could have very well outrun the dragon.

"Go after her!" Hadvar yelled to Remus. "I'll take care of these things!"

"Right!" Jumping past the spiders, and out of the chamber through the tunnel, Remus tried to catch up with the crazed dark elf. Finally, he found her standing in front of a thick wall of webbing, blocking the tunnel.

"Nyxeris!" he called out to her.

She turned sharply in his direction. "I, uh…" she said slowly. "I figured you two could handle yourselves, so I came to scout ahead."

"You screamed and ran! You're scared of spiders!"

She sneered angrily at him. "I am not scared, Imperial! You'll do well to remember!"

Remus decided it was better for his safety not to piss off an angry woman. He raised his hands in defeat.

Still looking angry, she shook her head. "Where's the nord?"

"Here" Said a voice behind them. Hadvar stepped from behind the corner, his left shoulder covered in green slime. It took Remus a moment to realize that he was limping.

"Are you alright," he said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hadvar replied. "One of them got me with their poison spit. No worries though, it's only temporary." He then saw the wall of webbing blocking their path. "Can you cut through it?" he asked Remus.

Remus looked at his sword, then the web. "I think so." He swung his sword into the web. Only a part of the web came off, so he kept swinging. Eventually, the web wall broke, and they stepped through. Remus's sword was completely covered in webbing. It would be useless in a fight whilst in that condition, so he threw it to the ground. As they continued in silence, Remus felt something.

A slight breeze, brushing against his face.

"Do you feel that? It feels like wind!"

Hadvar and Nyxeris stopped and concentrated. Suddenly, Hadvar's face lit up. "Wind! There must be an exit here somewhere! Come on!" They ran then, twisting and turning through chambers, desperately looking for a way out. Finally, as the turned a corner, they saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Remus looked at Nyxeris, who looked back at him and grinned. They were free! Together, all three of them ran through the exit into the light.


End file.
